Oathbreakers Anonymous by Scott Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was initially drawn to this novel because of the title, I am, and always have been a massive nerd. I was playing D&D 5e before it was fully published and was still being called D&D Next. So when I saw a novel referring to oathbreaker paladins, I was immediately intrigued. The author did not disappoint, the main character was a half-orc paladin who called his club a ‘Smite Stick’. The novel kicks off with Marluck, the main character, losing his paladin powers and falling into a depressive spiral. Marluck ends up joining an AA style group called Oathbreakers Anonymous, and going on a quest with an eclectic group to try to regain their powers, in a scene that has fond echoes of LotR.

Once the plot kicks off, things happen at a breakneck pace. Which, while a good thing, is almost too much. We aren’t given any time to process what just happened before we are once again onto the next leg of the quest. That is honestly my only real issue though, the author did a wonderful job, made me like the characters, and made me laugh many, many times with all of their jokes and nerdy humour. It was very obvious that the author is knowledgeable of pop culture, the nerdier the better. You could tell immediately just from the references and jokes that made it into the novel, I even got introduced to my new favourite deity, Chocklar the god of hangry snacking. Chocklar will be a part of my D&D campaigns going forward for sure!

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